A news story may be any information (e.g., discovery of a new element in periodic table, development in an important Supreme Court case, final score of Super Bowl, etc.) and/or current events (e.g., War in Iraq, March Madness, presidential elections, etc.). The news story may often be reported by a variety of sources (e.g., newspapers, television, radio programs, wire service, websites, etc.). A news reporter may investigate the news story and/or may try to cover at least one side of an issue.
The news reporter may contact a person close to the news story (e.g., eye witness, neighbor, etc.) to obtain information (e.g., eye-witness account, photos, videos, audio files, etc.) relevant to the news story. The news reporter may perceive the information differently than the person contacted and/or choose not to use it in the news story.
An interested party in the news story may want more information about the news story. The person close to the news story (e.g., a neighbor) may have information (e.g., comments, personal thoughts, video clips, etc.) regarding the news story, but may not be able to share this information with the interested party. The person may submit the information through internet and/or network technologies (e.g., web logs, chat rooms, message boards, etc.). However, the interested party may not be able to easily find this submitted information.
The news reporter (e.g., journalist, radio broadcaster, television anchorman, etc.) may not know whom to interview to obtain information relevant to the news story. The news reporter may be far from the location of the news story and/or may be unable to reach the location fast enough (e.g., traffic blocking the road, the location is too far away, the area is blocked off, etc. Hence, the news reporter may not be able to contact people close to the news story (e.g., neighbors, eye witnesses, etc.)